Glycemic Extremes in T1DM Impact Cognitive Skills in Kids

FRIDAY, April 6, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Type 1 diabetes is associated with cognitive dysfunction in children, according to a review published online March 23 in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation.

Jing He, Ph.D., from Central South University in Changsha, China, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies on cognitive function in children with type 1 diabetes.

Based on 19 included studies (1,355 patients with type 1 diabetes and 696 controls), the researchers found that children with type 1 diabetes showed a significantly poorer cognitive performance overall (g = −0.46), as well as specific deficits in full scale intelligence (g = −1.06), attention (g = −0.60), and psychomotor speed (g = −0.46). Furthermore, poorer overall cognition (g = −0.18), as well as slightly lower performance in memory (g = −0.27) were seen with glycemic extremes.

"Glycemic extremes, which [were] described as a period of high glucose levels and severe hypoglycemia, was related to cognitive dysfunction in children with type 1 diabetes," the authors write.